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Auction and the Trip East

Flaxton Farm – 1931 – Front

Jim’s interest in automobiles comes through vividly in this letter. They had just lost the farm to the depression and were moving back east. It must have been quite the emotional and economic upheaval, but the focus of this letter seems to be on the 1930 Oldsmobile sedan and the drive to the East Coast.

The bill of sale (photo below) for the farm auction is daunting. Everything from the farm was for sale, including fence posts and flour barrels. The farm itself, in the photo at right, looks a little bleak, nothing like what a farm in our times is, and certainly nothing like what Jim was headed to in Massachusetts. Below is a scan of the back side of the farm picture. It appears to be notes from the agent selling the farm or perhaps the bank. Can you decipher the handwriting?

If you’re following these letters closely, you will notice that they aren’t necessarily in order. I’m not sure if that’s because I scrambled the stack or if Jim just wrote them as memories popped into his mind.

Jim writes:

It was March of 1931 and I was in first grade in a small rural school near Flaxton, ND. It was also the same month that Frank and Anna Corser auctioned off the farm, land, buildings, horses, equipment … everything. Before me is an original copy of the auction sale bill …

Bill of Sale for Farm Auction – Click for larger version

Below is the back of the real estate photo of the farm. Who can interpret the comments for me?